ARTICLE TEXT:
HE
WHO HESITATES IS LOST
There is a difference.
Putting off a decision
is different in nature and in consequence to making a decision
that concludes with a “no”.
The current volatility
of local, national and global economies and marketplaces has
tended to influence many business owners and managers to put
off a decision until things are “better” or “right”.
That's interesting
!! When one retreats or withdraws from an active,
if not proactive role, a negative mindset is inclined to evolve.
It is then that the time or circumstances never seem
to be “right” and “better” is only a passing phase or another
“false dawn”. Yeah, right!
Decisions which are
made on the best available information are just that. Limited
by the availability of information at a given point in time.
For many in business,
time has been the independent variable in the decision making
process. Significantly, the decision is then the dependent
variable. Nothing happens until someone finds the time to
recognise that a decision is needed.
That raises the important
question of just how many business plans nominate planning
as a key component and specify the actual time period for
planning reviews and refinements.
USE TIME WISELY
Information in the
current marketplace is not perfect nor complete. Accepted.
It never has been, is or will be, regardless of the character
of the economy… at the time.
The buoyancy and exuberance
of the boom period have lapsed. Less pressure is being applied
to the available time of business owners, managers and staff
members. Retrenchments and staff dismissals have qualified
to some degree, the amount of increased uncommitted time in
a typical working week.
However, there is little
evidence that more dedicated time is being allocated by many
entities to business development, marketing, team building,
training and planning.
References to 10% of
time being given to marketing and 5% to planning generally
collapse when executives and people are asked to nominate
which specific hours and days are scheduled for such activities.
The usual rider to the statement is, “when time permits.”
SCENARIO PLANNING
Now is the time to
undertake interactive sessions which involve the participants
in visualising, analysing and formulating possible and probable
marketplace scenarios which will or could develop during the
ensuing three year time horizon.
Strategic and tactical
options can then be recognised and isolated. One significant
by-product is the acceptance by most that options and choices
do exist. The “siege mentality” which has gripped and impedes
many entities is addressed, readdressed and often overcome.
Personal and group confidence is lifted.
Pre-emptive analysis
can and, arguably, should be given to the identification of
marketplace triggers which will necessitate appropriate decision
making and action implementation. That will save time, provide
scope for marketplace leadership and ensure an early development
of increased momentum.
BEWARE INERTIA
Deluding oneself in
the mistaken belief that it is not necessary to make a decision
at this time can have its own opiate characteristics. An absence
of decision making can reduce stress, free up time and avoid
the prospect of errors, omissions and failure.
However, the loss of
momentum in the intermediate to longer term has widespread
implications for competitive advantage, supply chain benefits,
customer loyalty, stability and the creation of almost impenetrable
defensive forces.
PLAN TO PLAN
Detailed and documented
planning is not an innate feature of many corporate cultures
or business activities.
Sadly, and disturbingly
the formulation and documentation of business plans are all
too often outsourced. External consultants, no matter how
good, qualified and experienced, can never fully understand
and accurately articulate a company philosophy and set of
core values.
Such consultants are
invaluable in providing a malleable and relevant planning
framework. The hard work and the contents must necessarily
be the responsibility of the people who lead and work within
an entity.
PRACTICE MAKES
PERFECT
Critics of scenario
planning dismiss the concept as being speculative, subjective
and inaccurate.
There is some currency
in the first two of those three adjectives. However, anecdotal
evidence and detailed analysis over an extended period of
time reveal that documented plans which evolved from
scenario planning workshops are inevitably strikingly accurate.
That should come as
no surprise. Business professionals who know in detail their
market place, their products, their services, competitors,
customers and global trends in communications, supply chain
management and marketing, can and do readily visualise the
unfolding scenario.
Regrettably, most
do not dedicate sufficient time, money and resources to the
planning of the business.
Leading sports commentators
in latter years have concluded that the difference between
young, aspiring cricketers achieving and failing to wear the
“baggy green” cap as an Australian Test cricketer comes down
toa minimum figure … 20,000.
For a batsman or bowler,
that equates to some 55 balls bowled or faced each day of
each year, for a number of years. And that is just
the number in excess of the average.
Similarly, business
leaders who plan and make astute decisions regularly become
very good at both. Success follows. How lucky are they
???
